Dr Kirsty Hughes on the EU crisis: political rather than financial?
Kirsty Hughes has continued to offer comment in the media on the unfolding crisis in the EU, frequently making the point that the roots of the crisis are political rather than financial.
In a letter to The Financial Times (6 January) Kirsty Hughes responded to an article on Hungary ('Democracy under threat in Budapest', 3 January) by arguing that the EU has the power to act if a member state violates fundamental democratic principles after joining the Union.
Kirsty notes that “under article 7 of the Lisbon treaty, the European Council can indeed suspend the voting rights of a member state that violates the key values of the EU including values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. And it can do this under a qualified majority vote – so there is no veto by the erring member state."
She concludes that the challenge facing the EU is political and therefore it is entirely up to the EU to decide what to do. The letter can be read here.
Kirsty also published a piece in openDemocracy.net entitled 'EU democracy in crisis: mired in a perfect storm or rebounding?' (16 January).
In this article, Kirsty argues that the economics and politics of the euro crisis could be managed differently and that "EU leaders and other politicians should be focused on citizens, on society, on the practice of politics at least as much as on placating the markets."
She concludes that "EU leaders are divided, focused on their short-term national political careers, with none of them showing serious strategic or forward-looking European political imagination, or real conviction about the intertwining of national and European interests, let alone a real concern for the perilous economic and political state of much of the EU."
The full article can be read here.
Kirsty Hughes is Senior Associate Fellow, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford.
